In real analysis, a branch of mathematics, a slowly varying function is a function of a real variable whose behaviour at infinity is in some sense similar to the behaviour of a function converging at infinity. Similarly, a regularly varying function is a function of a real variable whose behaviour at infinity is similar to the behaviour of a power law function (like a polynomial) near infinity. These classes of functions were both introduced by Jovan Karamata, and have found several important applications, for example in probability theory and extreme value theory.
. A measurable function is called slowly varying (at infinity) if for all ,
. Let . Then is a regularly varying function if and only if . In particular, the limit must be finite.
These definitions are due to Jovan Karamata.
Regularly varying functions have some important properties: a partial list of them is reported below. More extensive analyses of the properties characterizing regular variation are presented in the monograph by .
. The limit in and is uniform if is restricted to a compact interval.
. Every regularly varying function is of the form
where
Note. This implies that the function in has necessarily to be of the following form
where the real number is called the index of regular variation.
. A function is slowly varying if and only if there exists such that for all the function can be written in the form
where